This invention relates to an electrical connector which serves to connect wires or other conductors to terminal pins or the like and which has provision for optionally connecting a circuit component in series with each wire. The herein disclosed embodiment of the invention is particularly intended to connect wires to contact pins in a refrigerator but other uses of the invention will be apparent to those skilled in the connector art.
Conventional domestic refrigerators are commonly produced with their compressor units contained in a sealed enclosure and the electrical connections to the compressor unit are achieved by means of contact pins which extend from a header which is mounted in the enclosure. The connectors which are used in the refrigeration industry for making connections to headers of this type must be relatively compact and particularly they must have a low profile because of the limited space available for their accommodation. They must also be extremely reliable because of the fact that they are required to give years of service without maintenance or other attention.
In the past, the circuitry for refrigeration compressors required three wires and the headers used were, therefore, provided with three contact pins. The connectors which have been developed for refrigeration compressors thus had three terminals therein which served to connect the wires directly to the contact pins. Electrical connectors of this general type are shown, for example, in U.S. Pat. Nos. 2,875,426, 3,231,849, and 3,777,302.
More recently, control circuits for refrigeration compressors have been developed which require only two conductors with a diode in series with one of these conductors and the three position connectors of the prior art are not suitable for these more modern compressors. Rather, a connector is required which provides a means for incorporating the diode in series with one of the conductors and which otherwise satisfies the requirements of connectors for refrigeration compressors.
In accordance with the principles of the instant invention, there is provided a connector comprising a housing which is dimensioned to receive two terminal members. Each terminal member has a wire crimp portion which is crimped onto the end of a wire and a pin receptacle portion which receives the contact pin which extends from a header of a compressor enclosure. The wire crimp portion and the pin receptacle portion are spaced-apart and are connected by an integral strap member. The wire crimp and pin receptacle portions of each terminal have a lead wire-receiving means which is adapted to receive a lead wire extending from a diode located between the crimp portion and the receptacle portion. This feature permits the diode to be connected in series with one of the wires by inserting its lead wires into the lead wire-receiving members and removing the strap. The wire extending to the connector which is to be connected directly to a contact pin is simply crimped onto an identical terminal member and the connecting strap is not removed.
It is accordingly an object of the invention to provide an electrical connector for connecting wires to contact members and permitting the incorporation of a diode or other circuit component into one of the circuits. A further object is to provide an improved connector for pin headers of the type used in refrigeration compressor enclosures. A further object is to provide a compact and reliable connector having a minimum number of parts.